


i know we can't forget the past

by myriadslashes



Category: Astral Chain (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, endgame spoilers, features a female mc named Misaki, file select is in-universe time travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:20:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myriadslashes/pseuds/myriadslashes
Summary: She nearly slips, lets the Legatus send the Arrow Legion out like all the past times seemingly by mistake. Its bow is already drawn, hand poised to let the arrow fly. But she has to know — the chance of finally having a conversation with him is too much to give up.So she restrains the Legion, pulls the chain hard and fast and hopes her arm's not torn off —and she lets Noah win.
Relationships: Akira Howard & Player Character
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	i know we can't forget the past

Just meters ahead. He's there once again.

The chains binding Akira to Noah Prime are right in front of her, marred with corruption, but she knows from experience that there's nothing she can do to free him now. It would seem that in the end, despite all that she's managed to accomplish, the Legionis isn't able to save her own twin.

"You have to end this," he says, voice strong with intent despite how his body's broken, frail — barely held up by his bonds. "You've got to…"

Her Sword Legion strains against its chain, bent on destroying the enemy in its sights just as it was programmed to. Misaki pulls the chain tight, dragging the legion back closer to her. It's become a sort of strangely calming presence of late — she senses its intentions as well as her own.

"Please."

She knows it's impossible without sacrificing Akira along with it. She can't count the number of times she's returned to this very instant, only to fail in her every attempt to save him.

He always pleads with her to shoot him, _always_ resigns to his fate as the pawn in someone else's gambit. He's never once broken his chains — though Misaki's tried to cut through them herself, she thinks only _his_ will can shatter them, the same way it had previously linked them together.

(The ability to travel back in time to all of her cases on the records in her computer is most definitely a curse, she thinks — but she can't bear to delete the data.

It's the only way she gets to see the _real_ Akira, after all.)

"Hey... are you listening to me?"

She snaps up to attention, now coiling the chain back into the Legatus entirely — the Sword Legion vanishes in a cloud of blue digitized mist. "I'm listening, Akira, but — "

Her voice fractures, trails off again, just as it has in several of the other instances. A worried, caring, even _confused_ expression appears on Akira's face, like he can't comprehend why his own twin sister would want to keep him around. It breaks her heart.

"Misaki?"

"I can't — do this." She fights to keep the tears from forming in her eyes. The sensation isn't foreign to her. "It's just too… "

(She regrets ever making that first snap decision — before she gained the ability to return to the time of her completed cases, before she remembered how much Akira meant to her.

The _first_ time this occurred, she was caught up in the moment of saving humanity. She'd raised her chain. Called the Axe Legion forward. Was it in her head that the legion seemed likewise apprehensive and hesitant?

She'd steeled herself, brought her hand down — and along with it came the axe swing that destroyed them both.)

Misaki makes no movement. It's nothing short of a miracle that somehow this instance has allowed Noah Prime to be bound back longer than usual. They never get to have a conversation further than this before her own Arrow Legion shoots him down — mercifully, the Legatus stays inactive.

"… I'm confused. This is your chance to _save the world_." Akira seems almost impatient. "Just like Dad, right? We promised."

"Exactly," she says, "We promised. I don't want to do it without you."

"Technically, I'll be a part of it." He gives her a strained smile. "I'm the sacrifice needed."

She can't believe he's still trying to make light of such a situation. "This isn't all we have to do. There'll be more work to rebuild what we've already lost, clean up the remaining chimeric activity —"

"But that's —"

"What _matters_ is I want to do it with you alive at my side." She steps closer to him, finding and resisting an inexplicable draw toward the geometric core of the enemy. "You're my twin — and really, my only family left."

"I'm no longer sure _myself_ what I am —"

Noah Prime shifts, suddenly, silencing him.

Misaki's never let the hostile entity overpower him before — for fear of it leading to even more of Akira's suffering, and subsequently the exodus of everyone in the thing's radius. The overwhelming instinct to end it all crashes over her.

"Son of a — !" Akira gasps, regaining control momentarily, "Misaki, _hurry_!"

She nearly slips, lets the Legatus send the Arrow Legion out like all the past times seemingly by mistake. Its bow is already drawn, hand poised to let the arrow fly. But she _has_ to know — the chance of finally having a conversation with him is too much to give up.

So she restrains the Legion, pulls the chain hard and fast and hopes her arm's not torn off —

and she lets Noah win.

* * *

"... Misaki."

The floor beneath her is no longer the concrete of the roof, glassy and shifting unpredictably in angles that are quickly becoming familiar.

She's inside Noah's dimension.

Her eyes snap open. Akira's there, holding a hand out to her. Parts of him are obscured in a cloud of black material, bearing resemblance to the bits of the Astral Plane that started to pop up around the Ark.

She takes his hand and manages to stand, as steady as she can on the amorphous ground.

"Noah's free to do what he wants now," he begins, "With no idea of what he's capable of —"

"Akira. What were you saying earlier?"

He sighs. "We don't have the time."

(She'd thought maybe in this plane of existence he'd look whole again. She's not sure if he ever will now.)

"We _never_ have the time," Misaki retorts. "When was the last time we had a real conversation?"

Akira looks sheepish, throws his hands up lightly. "We… ah, worked on some cases together? We had discussions then."

"I mean conversations with no burden of a problem to solve, no aberrations breathing down our necks, just —" Misaki shakes her head. "A regular conversation a brother and sister would have."

Akira hesitates then, focusing on a spot on the ground before answering.

"Well… there _was_ that one time we went reminiscing around Grand Avenue. Where Dad used to bring us, stuff like that, remember? Before… everything started going south."

She does remember — one of the moments she truly felt like they were in this thing together and maybe, just maybe they could get back to their lives after. "I think we deserve the chance to work together as regular members of Neuron — like we wanted to after the Academy. It's unfair for you to have to sacrifice yourself, just over two months past we became officers —"

"I know." He looks at her with the same resignation still in his eyes. "You've tried to keep me alive. Through time travel."

Misaki's frozen by his cutting in while he continues. "There's no other outcome. You have to move on."

"How …" She's still staring at him, wide-eyed. "How do you …"

Akira waves his hand, and it's not _his_ legion that appears, but Misaki's. The Arrow Legion hovers impassively between the both of them once again.

"Did you see it? How the Axe Legion shielded you immediately when Noah tried to land a finishing blow?"

Misaki closes her eyes, recalls the fierce visage of her father, sturdy as in his prime and clear as day in her vision during the split second before the energy shield kicked in. "I t-thought I saw..."

"There's a part of Dad in there. Just like there's still some part of me lingering in _… that_." Akira gestures toward the bow-wielding entity. "I can sort of… tell what's happening. I've basically shot myself so many times by now."

He looks at her, searchingly, "You haven't managed to change anything, have you?"

"No. I've tried, trust me, but so far all my attempts have been fruitless." The words are falling out of her mouth now, and she's past the point of stemming their flow. "After everything — after you're gone, and I recover from my injuries, they introduce to me a clone of you the chimeras apparently left behind. He looks identical to you, but —"

"He isn't me," Akira finishes, "and you don't think he'll ever be."

"He's like a _replacement_ — it's almost more of an insult that they gave him back to us, and Olive and Jin and Alicia and _everyone_ wants to believe it's a miracle but I can see that it bothers them as well." Misaki shakes her head. "The clone doesn't remember Maison Forest, Akira. Or when I was detained and you came to visit. Or even how to play Solitaire on the Legatus —"

"I was never great at it."

"He doesn't know it _exists,_ meaning even the rest of his memories are fuzzy at best."

"... But you have to _try_ getting to know him, at least. I think he — _I_ would like that." Akira holds out a hand toward her. "Promise?"

Misaki hesitates. The ground is bursting out in sharper angles. She's not sure how much time she has.

*You're right," she sighs eventually, "it isn't even his fault that he's a bad clone. We have Yoseph to blame for that."

"Come on —" He takes a step toward her. "Put this behind you, live your life. For me."

"I tried so hard," she confesses, "to save you, because I didn't want life to just — go back to normal without you." 

Akira's questioning gaze immediately softens as she continues. "I was always scared that it'd be like you never existed. _But_."

"But?"

She gestures to the Arrow Legion, still floating serenely with the chain loose. "You've convinced me that you still do exist. Just… in a different way. Not just physically — in my memories. Through the things you've done for us."

MIsaki hooks her pinky finger with his, just for a moment, and brings him in for a hug. It's warm, and thankfully corruption-free. It brings up thoughts of their childhood.

"I'm really glad we got to have this conversation."

Akira releases her after a moment, takes her by the shoulders instead, musters a serious face. "So… I'm guessing this won't happen again?"

"Yep — lots of cases to get back to. Olive's been keeping me busy. And," she says in a lighter tone, "I have _basically_ a new recruit to take care of."

"...It really has been only sixteen days since Neuron, huh?"

"Yeah, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Speaking of which, out there…"

"Right." He looks around at the place — it looks like it's already expanding, drawing in more people. "You'd better reverse time quick."

She gives him a stiff nod, supressing the emotions broiling in her. "I'll miss you, little bro."

"By twenty minutes," Akira feigns indignation, before it turns into a watery smile. "... I'll miss you too, sis."

She returns the smile, salutes him, shuts her eyes,

and time turns on its head.

* * *

"That's... all I remember." He crosses his arms, leans back into the sofa. "Right up to the Aegis institute. Next thing I know I'm up on the Neuron roof somehow."

She blinks, glancing over the room and letting its calm atmosphere wash over her. The cat food bowls are somehow already half empty. "How are you feeling now?"

"Still quite out of it. Think I'm going to need some training to get me back on track" He reaches down beside him, toward a cat that's surreptitiously been sitting there since they arrived, and scratches it behind its ears. "The kittens are helping in general, though. Hey, look —"

Their eyes meet. She swallows.

"I know I'm not… _really_ your brother —"

Misaki moves to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Save it. We're… going to go on, and live full lives, okay? I can show you the ropes, you can make new memories —"

"You're sure?" He tilts his head. "If I were you I'd probably be mad. That it was _me_ who came back, not… you know."

He speaks his mind, just like Akira does. Maybe she should be glad for that.

"I… _was_ upset," she admits, after a pause, "But not anymore. For now, I think... we deserve a chance to be happy."

"So you mean we should…" He looks deep in thought, eyebrows furrowed. "Play the cards we were dealt."

"It's what he would have wanted." She's not sure which of her family she's referring to, but decides that it works for both.

He nods, slowly, relief spreading across his face. Laughs a little, shakes his head slightly, "I think we would've gotten along."

(As they leave for headquarters, legions in tow, Misaki thinks she sees the Arrow Legion cast her a look of approval.)

**Author's Note:**

> the game never really detailed what would happen if the protagonist failed so i sort of just made it up (human instrumentality), plus i may have remembered some things wrong, hope this is okay!
> 
> i was quite disappointed that the player character didn't speak even on their twin's death so i took things into my own hands and wrote myself an epilogue. they deserve to be siblings


End file.
